Buckinghamshire authority announces plans to increase council tax significantly again

Bucks Council has announced plans to raise council tax significantly again for the third consecutive year.

Bucks Council has released its plans to remain financially stable over the next three years, which includes raising local taxes by 4.99 per cent. The maximum amount that it can be raised by without public consultation is five per cent.

The raise is broken down into a 2.99 per cent rise put forward by the council and an additional two per cent which goes towards adult social care.

This represents a an extra £1.69 per week for the average Band D property.

Bucks Council notes that 80 per cent of how council services are paid for comes via council tax.

The local authority has published its strategy for balancing its books during a financially challenging context where other authorities have recently been virtually declared bankrupt.

To reduce costs the council plans on:

-Investing in additional children’s homes to reduce the heavy cost burden of external placements

-Making savings in Adult Social Care through providing help for some residents, where it fits their need, to live more independently

-Rationalising the council’s office space, such as closing the King George V site in Amersham

-Investing in more housing and temporary accommodation units to bring down the spend on costly nightly-paid accommodation

It is hoped by making these cost cutting measures the council can deliver investments of:

-£105 million on the highways network

-£25 million on supporting housing and homelessness

-£14.7 million on climate change and flood management projects

-£37.6 million on economic growth and regeneration projects

Overall, the plan proposes that the council spends £656.4 million on capital projects over the next four years.

Bucks Council states it is revealing its medium term plan at a challenging time for local governments, stating that it is still facing very significant extra financial pressure. This has been linked to rising costs and demand particularly for services that help the most vulnerable, such as social care, providing temporary accommodation for people who have become homeless and home to school transport (particularly for children with special needs). Bucks Council has a legal obligation to ensure people can access these services.

However, the council believes nearly £172 million has been saved since 2020, when the county switched to being run as a single unitary authority. Bucks Council links this figure to savings and additional income generated in the move.

Bucks Council Leader, Councillor Martin Tett, said: “Council budgets are under extreme pressure everywhere and it’s been very challenging to produce a balanced budget that takes us through to 2027. This won’t come without pain and a reduction in some services that people may notice and feel.

“Overall though, this Medium Term Financial Plan shows how we can maintain core, frontline services, and still put some further investment into those areas residents have asked us to prioritise, within the threshold of current council tax rate rises that are allowed without holding a referendum to increase council tax further.

“I know it will not be welcome news to our residents that bills will rise again from April, but we simply have no choice.”